BOLAN: Nine individuals, including eight policemen and one civilian, were martyred in a suicide attack on a Balochistan Constabulary van in the Dhadar tehsil of the Kacchi district in Bolan on Monday.
According to Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah, the blast occurred at 10am on the Kambri bridge in the area bordering the Sibi and Kachhi districts.
He said the police van was returning to Quetta from Dhadar, where the Balochistan Constabulary personnel — a de-partment of the provincial police force that provides security at important events and in sensitive areas, including jails — was posted for duty at a Sibi cultural festival.
“The van collided with a motorcycle which was being driven by a suicide bomber. As a result, nine people were mar-tyred, of which one was a civil-ian,” Sanaullah said, adding that 13 people were injured in the attack.
Three wounded persons, he went on to say, were in critical condition. “We fear the death toll will increase to double digits.” The minister said no or-ganisation had so far claimed responsibility for the attack. He stated that the injured people had been immediately flown to Quetta via a helicopter and the federal government was closely coordinating with the Balochistan government with regard to the martyred, their compensation and the medical treatment of the wounded.
Earlier, Kachhi Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Mahmood Notezai told media that an emergency had been im-posed at hospitals across Quet-ta.
He also said that bomb disposal squads and security personnel had arrived at the blast site and cordoned it off to col-lect evidence. –Agencies
